What changed on 17 September 2026
The EPF wage ceiling is ₹25,000 a month from 17 September 2026, up from ₹15,000. The Ministry of Labour and Employment notified it under the Code on Social Security, 2020, in notification S.O. 5109(E), published in the Gazette of India that day.
“…the Central Government hereby notifies rupees twenty-five thousand (₹25,000) per month as the wage ceiling for the purposes of Chapter III of the said Code, with effect from the date of publication of this notification in the Official Gazette.”
Chapter III is the Code's chapter on the Employees' Provident Fund. Section 2(89) defines the wage ceiling as the wages notified for the purpose of becoming a member under that chapter. So the ceiling decides who must join, as well as the wage at which contributions stop.
The ceiling had stayed at ₹15,000 since September 2014. EPFO's explanation is that wages moved on: in at least eight major states and union territories, the minimum wage for unskilled work was already above ₹15,000. Even minimum-wage earners were falling outside compulsory coverage.
The notification supersedes an earlier one, S.O. 2702(E) of 29 May 2026, and EPFO circulated it to all its offices on 25 September. EPFO has also said there is no plan to move the date to 1 October 2026.
The contribution rates have not changed. The employee pays 12% of PF wages and the employer 12%, of which 8.33% goes to the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) and 3.67% to EPF. The employer also pays 0.5% for EDLI insurance and 0.5% as administration charges.
Who must now be covered
Employees whose PF wages are up to ₹25,000 a month must now be members of EPF, EPS and EDLI. Both sides contribute on wages up to that figure. EPFO estimates that more than 51 lakh additional employees come under compulsory coverage.
The test runs on PF wages, not on gross salary or CTC. EPFO ties it to wages under section 2(88) of the Code: basic pay, dearness allowance and retaining allowance, plus excluded allowances above half of total pay. EPFO's own examples show the difference.
- Gross ₹50,000, PF wages ₹25,000. The employee must be a member of EPF, EPS and EDLI. A high gross salary does not take anyone out.
- Gross ₹60,000, PF wages ₹30,000. Membership is not compulsory, though the employee can join voluntarily with the employer's consent.
An employee who was excluded on 16 September and whose PF wages are below ₹25,000 has to be made a member from 17 September 2026. The employee does not need to apply. EPFO's FAQs place the enrolment on the employer as a statutory responsibility.
Wages above ₹25,000
Below the ceiling, contributions run on actual PF wages, not on ₹25,000. Above it, contributions are generally restricted to ₹25,000, unless the employee already contributes on higher wages under the scheme's provisions. Those higher-wage arrangements continue, and nobody has to cut back to the new figure.
“Employers should therefore examine each employee's existing PF status and contribution arrangement rather than mechanically applying ₹25,000 to every employee.”
EPS, EDLI and the higher ceiling
For existing members, the larger change is pension. Some members contribute to EPF but sit outside EPS, such as employees who joined on wages above the old ceiling. If their PF wages are between ₹15,000 and ₹25,000, they must be made EPS members from 17 September 2026.
From that date, 8.33% of their wages, out of the employer's 12%, goes to EPS instead of EPF. EPS membership is still limited to employees whose wages, on the day they joined or on the day the new ceiling took effect, did not exceed the ceiling. Pensionable wages can now be counted up to ₹25,000, which can raise the pension an eligible member eventually draws.
Two figures do not move. The Government's own EPS contribution stays at 1.16% of wages up to ₹15,000, at most ₹174 a month per member. EPFO says this does not affect the member's pension.
The EDLI insurance benefit also stays capped at ₹7 lakh. On wages of ₹25,000 the EDLI formula can now work out above that cap. EPFO says an actuarial valuation of the fund will come first, and benefits may be revised on that basis.
A worked example at ₹20,000 a month
Take an employee with PF wages of ₹20,000 a month who was an EPS member contributing on the old ₹15,000 cap. The table compares a full month under each ceiling, using EPFO's own figures. To run your own numbers, use our PF calculator.
| Each month | Old ceiling | New ceiling, from October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Wages contributions are worked on | ₹15,000 | ₹20,000 |
| Employee's share, 12% | ₹1,800 | ₹2,400 |
| Employer to EPS, 8.33% | ₹1,250 | ₹1,666 |
| Employer to EPF, 3.67% | ₹550 | ₹734 |
| EDLI, 0.5% | ₹75 | ₹100 |
| Administration charges, 0.5% | ₹75 | ₹100 |
| Employer's cost | ₹1,950 | ₹2,600 |
| Total paid to EPFO | ₹3,750 | ₹5,000 |
For this employee, take-home pay falls by ₹600 a month and the employer's cost rises by ₹650. Finance teams will be asked whether the extra employer share can come out of CTC. EPFO's answer is that the two shares are legally distinct, and the employer's share cannot become an employee deduction by being described as part of CTC.
Above the ceiling, contributions stop at ₹25,000. In EPFO's example at PF wages of ₹35,000, the employee and the employer each pay ₹3,000, all to EPF for a member outside EPS. EDLI and administration charges are ₹125 each.
September 2026: two ceilings, one return
The change took effect mid-month, so September is worked out in two parts. The days from 1 to 16 September use the old ₹15,000 ceiling, and 17 to 30 September use ₹25,000. Both parts go in a single ECR, due by 15 October 2026.
| September 2026, PF wages ₹20,000 | Amount | Worked out as |
|---|---|---|
| Wages, 1 to 16 September | ₹8,000.00 | ₹15,000 × 16/30 |
| Wages, 17 to 30 September | ₹9,333.33 | ₹20,000 × 14/30 |
| Total wages for the month | ₹17,333.33 | Both periods together |
| Employee's share | ₹2,080.00 | 12% |
| Employer to EPF | ₹636.13 | 3.67% |
| Employer to EPS | ₹1,443.87 | 8.33% |
| EDLI | ₹86.67 | 0.5% |
| Administration charges | ₹86.67 | 0.5% |
| Total remittance | ₹4,333.34 | All of the above |
A newly covered employee is different: only the 14 days from 17 September count. EPFO has said its portal validations will be relaxed so that part-month contributions can be reported.
For newly covered staff, an employee's share not deducted from September salary can be recovered in the next payroll. The Inspector-cum-Facilitator's prior approval is not needed. That relief covers the payroll only.
What employers should do now
EPFO's FAQs tell employers not to wait for the next payroll cycle. The steps they list come down to six.
- 1List employees with PF wages between ₹15,000 and ₹25,000, and existing members whose contributions were restricted to ₹15,000.
- 2Check the wage components used for PF against the Code's definition of wages, not against gross pay.
- 3Enrol employees who became compulsorily covered on 17 September in EPF, EPS and EDLI, and correct EPS status where a member was outside it.
- 4Split September into its two periods, file one ECR and pay by 15 October 2026.
- 5Check that your contractors have applied the new ceiling to the workers they deploy with you.
- 6Update payroll systems, tell employees what is changing, and keep an audit trail of every recalculation.
We run this cycle for clients every month. PF wages are worked out under the Labour Codes, ECRs and challans are ready before the 15th, and new joiners get a UAN. If you want the September transition checked or handled, see our PF & ESI compliance and payroll services.
